Inside the Record-Breaking Emmy Awards Governors Ball with Cheryl Cecchetto

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governors-ball-2016Three full nights of black tie and ball gowns. The Emmy Awards have become that big. In a first for the Television Academy, the organization is putting on three Governors Balls order to celebrate all of the participants in both the Creative Arts Emmys, which were handed out over two nights September 10 and 11, and the upcoming Primetime Emmy Awards, airing live on ABC September 18 with host Jimmy Kimmel.

Even without this year’s addition of a third Ball, the Governors Ball already held the title of the nation’s largest formal sit-down dinner.

In total, more than 8,000 guests will experience the magic that has been created in the West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center for the post-awards celebration after ceremonies at the Microsoft Theater.

The theme of this year’s elegant soirée is ”Nature’s Elegance,” designed to evoke a romantic, moonlit garden with alfresco décor under wisteria and olive branches, with a  farm-to-table inspired menu created by acclaimed master chef Joachim Splichal of Patina, which has a long—and delicious—history of catering the event.

Under the leadership of Television Academy Governors Ball Committee Co-Chairs Barbara Cassel and Edward Fassl, Sequoia Productions created the environment which is geared towards celebrating not just Emmy winners, but all invited guests in the entertainment industry.

It’s the 19th year in a row that Sequoia’s Cheryl Cecchetto and her team have produced the Balls, and despite the newness of doing two back-to-back galas for the Creative Arts, she says the entire process is a creative endeavor that she relishes– even as last-minute adjustments are made after months and months of meticulous planning.

Table settingsThe overriding goal is that the Academy’s board of governors, who are the hosts, never have to worry about anything – that it’s all taken care of.

Prior to the events, Cecchetto had promised that this year’s Governors Balls would break new ground and exceed guest expectations.

Having attended the festivities a number of times in recent years, we can attest to that. And that isn’t to take away from any of the previous editions of an always-fabulous soirée that is huge in scale.  One of our many fond memories involves bars carved out of ice and festooned with gorgeous flower arrangements from a couple years back.

This year, it’s all about the flowers, the foliage and the plants, from the moment guests enter the venue. Inspired both by the beauty of old world gardens and the natural grandeur of the California landscape, signature elements include suspended canopies of cascading lilac, wisteria and ivy, a winding central pathway bordered by lush plants and grasses, rustic walls draped with foliage and flickering “firefly” lighting illuminating the room.

Cecchetto says the entire set-up was like an amazing art installation. She took time out of her production schedule to tell us more. “It was a matter of day-by-day art direction and we had to apply it until it was right. After a few days of adding, pulling, cutting, what emerged was a magical monster of an environment that was so romantic. We were thrilled.”

Dinner is servedGuests are seated at assigned tables, each of which are decorated by a unique plant arrangements adding resonance to the evening’s theme. The first course is already on the table – a beautiful melange of heirloom beets and pistachio-goat cheese “bon-bons” on black olive “soil” in a tangelo emulsion.

This year’s main course is thyme-roasted tenderloin and slow braised short ribs with rapini and rainbow carrots. (Vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free and kosher choices are also available to attendees.)

For months, Patina chefs worked closely with local foragers and farmers to develop what they call a “from-the-earth” menu that celebrates the agricultural bounty of the late summer season, which also draws inspiration from the rustic, organic theme of this year’s celebrations.

For dessert, there is triple chocolate mousse cake accompanied by a banana biscuit, pecan nougatine—we finished every last bite– and passion fruit.

Not only with that sweet treat, chocolate lovers will swoon over the three separate chocolate bars set up on the “outskirts” of the hall, where they can fill boxes to their heart’s content with creations from Cellar Door Chocolates, a lovely memento of the evening.

What would a celebration be without an array of custom craft cocktails and premium liquors and wines?

CheersFor those with a taste for the bubbly – and who doesn’t during awards shows– there was a choice of brut and a rosé sparkling wines that were served at festive Ferrari “tasting bars.” Ferrari Trento is Italy’s most awarded sparkling wine producer and this is the house’s second year in a row as the official bubbly of the Emmys. Guests leaving the awards show and entering the Governors Ball are able to get the party started right away as they are served flutes of prestige label Ferrari Trentodoc.

This year the vintner’s bill is being filled by Sterling Vineyards 2013 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, 2013 Chardonnay and its 2014 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc. Emmy winners also will partake of the 2012 Platinum Cabernet Sauvignon while having their statuettes personalized in the Governors Ball Winner’s Circle presented by Sterling Vineyards.

Themed cocktails like the Moonlighter are being made with Ketel One Vodka and the H2O is natural artesian water from FIJI Water. Organic coffee and tea are also available, served by Groundwork Coffee Company.

We wondered if Cecchetto is concerned about topping herself from year to year—she said she wasn’t–and also where she gets her inspiration.

“The cochairs and I pull billions of ideas for inspirations” she says. “It can be where you have been and where you can go. If you just relax, inspiration can come from anywhere including artists and architects. I spent a lot of times at bookstores and I keep myself open.”

Speaking of bookstores, Cecchetto’s book, “Passion to Create: Your Invitation to Celebrate” was published in 2014. In it, the event planning pro curates creative ideas for home entertaining.

Inside the BallWith an event of this magnitude, it seems difficult to relax until all the guests have gone home. But for Cecchetto, she knows things are well in hand when she starts to think about next year’s event. That has traditionally happened a week or 10 days before the Creative Arts Ball, a testament to her organization, planning and execution and leadership.

In addition the about 15 staffers at Sequoia that provide the core Emmy team, they work with an equal number of top-quality vendors – including those for lighting and linens– year after year.

“It takes an army to do it,” she says and also notes that this year they had to duplicate the exact same Ball one night to the next so that that no one would feel that were at the “better” of the two.

In fact, for all of her talk about trusses, trucks and fabric design, Cecchetto’s main goal is for everyone to have a grand and memorable time, and to be in the moment with the environment serving to facilitate all the congratulations and schmoozing that go on.

And of course there’s always spirited live entertainment, inspiring attendees to put on their dancing shoes after dinner.

Jordan Smith will perform at the Governors Ball on Emmy night.

“You’re reacting to the sound, the food, the candles, the band – everyone is actors on a set that’s been created. Yet you’re grounded, and part of the space,” she says.

The mark of a great celebration is that people do not want to leave. That is certainly the case for the Creative Arts crowd, many of whom were closing things down when the music finally stopped.

 

 

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Author: Hillary Atkin

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